Chapter 7 Yizhou

After Wang Xianzhi issued an order to attack Yizhou, the rebels put into intense preparations before the war in Caozhou. Chai Cun was arranged to be responsible for supplying grain and grass and building siege equipment. He worked day and night, and his eyes turned red. One day, as soon as Chai Cun had lunch, he went to the weapons workshop to guide the construction of the siege vehicle. A small school came to report: "General Chai, General Second General's visit."

Chai Cun hurried out and saw Huang Chao standing alone under a cypress tree, looking at the bead-necked turtledove hovering in the sky, thinking.

Huang Chao heard the footsteps of Chai Cun coming, turned his head and took the initiative to say hello: "General Chai, you are so busy, hehe!" Chai Cun smiled and said, "For good, in order to make the brothers attack the city smoother, my suffering is nothing now. When the second general comes, there must be something important to discuss, but it's okay to say it.

Huang Chao greeted Chai Cun: "Come on, let's sit down and talk!" After saying that, Huang Chao sat on the grass by the tree, and Chai Cun also sat down next to Huang Chao. Huang Chao sighed gently and said slowly, "According to reliable information, Song Wei, an old fox, has recently frequently dispatched troops and horses in Qingzhou and is stepping up training. The Tang army around us is strengthening the city walls, and it seems that it will be consumed by the long-term confrontation with us. You are responsible for the supply of grain and grass. How long can our army's grain and grass last now?

Chai Cun pinched his fingers and said, "A month at most." Huang Chao stood up and took a deep breath: "That is to say, our army attacked Yizhou for half a month at most. It can't be conquered for more than half a month. Song Wei led a large army to copy four loaves of bread, and we are likely to destroy the whole army!"

Chai Cun also stood up, held Huang Chao's hand, and said anxiously, "Yes, my concern is also here. I have advised Brother Xianzhi several times to give up attacking the strong city of Yizhou. In the past, he listened to me a lot. Since the Rebels won a series of victories, he has become more and more stubborn. This time he has to fight Yizhou, and I have no choice. Now, even your brother Huang's words are rarely accepted.

Huang Chao smiled bitterly and patted Chai Cun's shoulder: "I don't care about these. I sincerely pushed him to take the helm, so I definitely don't want the final military decision. I must let Xianzhi decide. In the current situation, we should fight Yizhou according to Xianzhi's idea, but we should make preparations for not to attack Yizhou and prevent problems before they happen. At tonight's war meeting, we need to talk about our thoughts. I'm afraid that this expedition to Yizhou will be like dragonflies with broken tails and won't come back!"

Chai Cun nodded: "Brother Huang's words are reasonable. I will definitely bring it up at the meeting!"

When night fell, the candlelight in the tents of the rebels swayed, and the battalion commanders sat together and held a battle conference for the Yizhou Expedition. Wang Xianzhi first said, "Brothers, now the green and yellow are not receiving, and the military grain has been supported for more than a month. Yizhou is a large granary. As long as it is captured by us, we can get a great supplement. So I decided to pull it out!"

Most of the generals agreed and strived to be a pioneer, and the atmosphere was quite lively. Huang Chao was silent and looked at Chai Cun. Chai Cun also paid attention to Huang Chao's worried eyes and immediately stood up and pressed down hard: "Brothers, please be quiet and listen to me!"

In an in an hour, the Chinese military tent seemed to have solidified, and only Chai Cun's voice was echoing: "According to the latest information, the Tang army in the four war zones of Pervert, Xuanwu, Yicheng and Tianping is strengthening the city wall, actively preparing for the war, and mobilizing elite soldiers to Qingzhou for unified training by Song Wei. If our army can't take down Yizhou in a short time and the Tang army comes from all sides, our army will be in a very dangerous situation, and there is a risk of the destruction of the whole army! Brothers, don't be careful!"

After Chai Cungang finished speaking, Huang Chao also said: "I think what Chai Cun said is very reasonable. If the Xianzhi brothers have to fight in this battle, I want to lead 5,000 people to lay off the front line of Daxian Mountain to prevent the Song Wei Legion from going south and eliminate worries. At the same time, in Caozhou, we must send heavy troops to defend, Puzhou and Changyuan, and station a small number of soldiers and horses to contain the enemy. In case of defeat in the attack on Yizhou, we can retreat calmly and then decide the march route. Attack Yizhou at most half of the people, and the rest of the people are used to defend the city.

As soon as Huang Chao's voice fell, the generals said that this arrangement was reasonable and strategic.

Wang Xianzhi smiled and said, "Brother Huang and Brother Chai, don't worry too much. I can take it in three days to measure the small city in Yizhou District! Well, according to what Brother Huang said, I will take 15,000 brothers, and the rest will be arranged by Brother Huang.

Wang Xianzhi paused, stood up and said loudly, "All the generals will obey the order!" Shang Rang and Yue Lingfei led 3,000 troops as pioneers, cleared the periphery of Yizhou and went straight to the city of Yizhou. Liu Yanzhang and Cao Shixiong and I led a large army and then arrived and took Yizhou with one spirit! Brother Huang, Huang Kui and Huang Siye led 5,000 troops to the front line of Daxian Mountain to prevent Song Wei from going south; Shang Junchang and Sun Mei led 5,000 troops to defend Caozhou; Meng Kai, Qiao Qi and Niu Feng led 3,000 troops to defend Puzhou; the rest of the people were stationed by Cao Min and Lin Yan to defend Changyuan. Firewood storage is responsible for the supply of grain and fodder. The army will officially start tomorrow! The meeting is off!"

The generals went back to their residences to rest.

The next morning, Shang Rang and Yue Lingfei led 3,000 elite soldiers on the road to Yizhou. Before leaving, Huang Chao called Shang Rang and Yue Lingfei to his side and repeatedly urged them to pay attention to preserving their strength and minimize casualties. Shang Rang and Yue Lingfei nodded repeatedly and waved goodbye to Huang Chao. The rebels did not encounter decent resistance along the way. It can be said that they were killed under the city of Yizhou.

Yue Lingfei immediately fought under the city. Zhang Yan ignored it. When the rebels approached the city wall, the city beat wooden rolling stones, strong bows and hard crossbows, and started together. The rebels attacked several times. Yizhou City was as stable as a rock. Tang soldiers shouted and scolded the rebels for their incompetence, which made the Rebel soldiers and Tang soldiers scolded each other for a long time.

Soon, Wang Xianzhi led a large army to arrive, and Shang Rang and Yue Lingfei reported the siege of the city. Xianzhi was furious: "Zhang Yan, you bully me too much!" He patted the horse and dance knife, went straight to the city, and shouted harshly, "Zhang Yan, if you have the guts, come down and compete with me. I am the Wang Xianzhi you are looking for!" Zhang Yan sneered, "Are you Xianzhi, the king of the thief? I don't have time to be brave with you now. I am ordered by Lord Song to protect the country and the people, unlike you, who run around. Don't bother with your words. Let's attack. Even if you fight until the Spring Festival, you can't even step into Yizhou City!"

Wang Xianzhi raised the wolf knife and roared: "The siege begins!" The rebels rushed to Yizhou City like a tide, set up a ladder and climbed bravely. Seeing many soldiers approaching the city, Zhang Yan personally command the Tang soldiers to hold a long gun and go straight to the Rebels. Then, a row of Tang soldiers behind threw a bundle of dry firewood on the ladder, and the Tang soldiers's archers' rocket shot at the dry firewood. In an instant, dry firewood was on fire, and the ladder also followed by a fire. Thick smoke rolled. The rebels who attacked the city were either dead or injured, and the corpses under the city were full of blood, which was unbearable to see.

Yue Lingfei's body caught fire and suffered many gunshot wounds. He was saved by his subordinates. Wang Xianzhi ordered the second echelon to attack the city, and returned with the same defeat as the first time. Shang Rang whipped his horse and came to Wang Xianzhi's side and said bitterly, "Brother, it's been a fierce battle for a day. Order to retreat. First, set up camp and surround Yizhou. Yizhou has been built for many years. It is very strong and difficult to get down. You can't attack hard!"

Wang Xianzhi had no choice but to see more and more casualties, so he had to order the whole line to retreat, camp ten miles away from the city, and surround Yizhou like an iron barrel. Counting people and horses, two or three thousand people were damaged. Xianzhi was sullen and there was nothing she could do for a while. Yue Lingfei has been transferred to Caozhou to recover from his injuries. In this way, unconsciously, more than ten days passed, the food and fodder of the rebels began to be in urgent need, and the situation on the battlefield was extremely unfavorable to the rebels.

Song Wei received the Yizhou war report and knew that Zhang Yan was still holding it, and Yizhou was still in the hands of the Tang army. He summoned the generals to the government office and said proudly, "Wang Xianzhi has been attacking Yizhou for a long time and has become a tired teacher. Now is the time for us to give a fatal blow to the grass bandits!" I ordered the Qingzhou soldiers to go to Yizhou to destroy the anti-thief Wang Xianzhi!"